DIY Homemade Dog Food
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Keep your dog healthy and fit with this easy peasy homemade recipe – it’s cheaper than store-bought and chockfull of fresh veggies!
I never thought I would be one of those dog owners who made homemade human food for their pups. Not in a million years.
But when Butters recently fell sick with an upset stomach, our vet advised us to feed him a bland diet – chicken and rice without any kind of seasoning. So that’s what we did – we poached a chicken, shredded it in a food processor, and mixed in some white rice and fed him this bland diet for 3 days.
That’s when I started to do some research on homemade dog food, and I have been so amazed as to how many different kinds of vegetables dogs can have. And with the help of Balance IT, you can create so many different recipes for your pup!
Now the best part about making homemade dog food – just like making anything at home – is that you know exactly what is going into the dog bowl, and not any of that questionable gelatinous gunk from the canned food.
But it’s important to note that dogs have different nutrient requirements than humans for their proportional body size, such as:
- High-quality protein (meat, seafood, dairy or eggs)
- Fat (meat or oil)
- Carbohydrates (grains or vegetables)
- Calcium (dairy)
- Essential fatty acids (egg yolks or oatmeal)
Now this recipe here has a balance of 50% protein, 25% veggies and 25% grains, but the ratios can easily be adjusted to suit your pup’s breed and/or needs.
Once you’ve made your batch, you can divide them up into single servings, note the date, and freeze it. When ready to serve, you can defrost it in the fridge overnight and nuke it for 15-30 seconds. That’s it! Now who knew that making dog food would be this easy?
DIY Homemade Dog Food
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups brown rice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 pounds ground turkey
- 3 cups baby spinach, chopped
- 2 carrots, shredded
- 1 zucchini, shredded
- ½ cup peas, canned or frozen
Equipment
Instructions
- In a large saucepan of 3 cups water, cook rice according to package instructions; set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add ground turkey and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the turkey as it cooks.
- Stir in spinach, carrots, zucchini, peas and brown rice until the spinach has wilted and the mixture is heated through, about 3-5 minutes.
- Let cool completely.
Did you make this recipe?
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I’ve been making this for my zoey because she had a fatty liver and now her vet says she is completely healthy, I alternate different veggies and add sweet potatoes ot pumpkin, but this is a great recipe
Don’t nuke your food. Use cast iron for everything unless you want non stick chemicals (PFAS) into your system. We and our dogs are already exposed to pesticides and herbicides. Wash everything, not once but twice. Microwave cooking is NOT good for you. It kills all the good food bacteria we need to survive. So, my dog gets his protein grilled, chopped up- bone and all, mixed with peas, spinach and carrots (2x). I stir in brown rice in cooked in a rice cooker. Not microwaved. I seal up a FULL zippy bag that lasts my 10 lb dog about 3 days. I mixed this with the best freeze dried dog food (12 pellets). I spoil my dog with 2x a day feed. He’s 1.5 years old and is only a pound greater than when I rescued this Chihuahua-Pootle mutt.
Congratulations.
The only thing I would add is perhaps store in plastic alternates such as glass if possible – I make smaller batches for 3-4 days and keep in mason jars …hate to avoid the toxins only to have nags leach…
*poodle
Hi,
I’ve been making your recipe for a year or so and my Boston terrier seems to really love it. I thought I would double check something – is the 1.5 cups of rice the amount of cooked rice or 1.5 cups of rice before it’s cooked? Ive been doing 1.5 cups of cooked rice – 1.5 cups of raw rice that you them cook would seem like it would be a really large amount? Wanted to double check. Thanks.
Adam, the rice is dry measured. In the instructions it says to boil 3 cups of water and cook the rice. So you should be using dry rice 1.5cups. 1.5cups of cooked rice wouldn’t be enough.
Hi I wanted to try this recipe she loves chicken carrots and pumpkin as she has been eating Stella and Chewy’s since she is 3 yrs old as this stuff is expensive .and times are hard.can you freeze this recipe is it good to make it in crockpot or on black skillet iron fryer pan as it is iron please reply she is a fussy eater she is a Morkie of going on 4 yrs in this Dec 08 /23…. her weigh is 11lbs with beautiful fur how much can I give her in portions.
Her name Is Foxy Ruby Babygirl & Johanne louise 9 Oct 2023
How many calories? One pound of turkey 93% = 680 Cals. Brown rice = 1040, veggies, minimal but lets say 100 cals.
Total = 227 per cup. My puppy requires 320-380/day. Are my calculations correct?
So i made it for my dog, it looked delicious and then I had some! it is now a family favourite in our house I just add a bit more spice and salt everyone loves it.
Pawsome
Bloody awesome recipe!!!
My dog loves it so unfortunately I’m locked in to cook this at least once a month. I made it once for my Westie Alfie’s 10th bday and . . . . . I signed can’t feed him without this involved . . . The looks of disappointment ain’t worth it your dog will love you for it!
How long can this be frozen for?
Most all food (dog or human) is safe to eat after years in the freezer but the quality and taste starts to deteriorate after 3-4 months. Food in a tightly sealed container should be just fine for 3 months or more. I usually make enough to last about a month and divide it intoportions — just enough to last 3-4 days in the fridge — and the night I’m done with one portion, I take out the next portion
to thaw overnight in the fridge
My dogs are doing so much better with homemade food than that Garbage They were getting from the store Homemade food is the best for your dogs ever
You must chop the veggies for them to be as small as they are in the picture??? I’ve been doing this for 3 weeks now and just came across your recipe. My food seems too starchy with rice and too soft.
add the rice , already cooked , at the end. It will hjold up better.
My dog loves this recipe! He has pancreatitis and this meets all the requirements. He is so much happier.
Hello and thank you for your recipe, how much does it yield? Maybe I missed this in your article
This sounds easy and I’m sure my 84 pound Golden would love it, however, I have no idea of a serving size.
How Much do I feed my Mini Schnauzer who weighs 7,5 Kg or about 17 – 18 lbs
Hi, I thought dogs were not supposed to have rice ? Also should I add vitamins in it? About to try for my dog who is a very very picky eater.
According to my vet, feed a dog about 2X the amount you were giving of the dry food…. Hope this is helpful a bit. Think about the way that dry dog food expands in there tummy when it gets mixed with the stomach fluids and enzymes…
There is a conversion chart on Google. Dog food to home-made food conversions that will help
A healthy dog needs 2.5 percent of his ideal weight daily. Less if overweight, 2%, more if skinny and active, 3% of the weight they should be. Adjust for activity level too. Check out natural dog magazine site, pet food advisor etc.
This was exactly what I was looking for thank you very much
I have 2 dogs and they will not eat hardly anything unless they are starving, So, I made this today using ground been, White rice, Kale, Green beans drained, zucchini, carrots , put veggies into food process and cut up but not into mush. I drained the cooked ground beef really good.
It turned out delicious. To my husband and I I added Teriyaki sauce.
For the dogs, served plain. Before I could get ours served the dogs had everything ate and was licking the bowls all over the kitchen. I fed them some more. They instantly ate that also. I also added Dinovite to the dogs helping. I think it’s a keeper. I definitely will keep making it for hubby and I.
Thank you for the recipe.
After thawing the food in the fridge… can we serve directly or do we need to nuke it?
I warm the food in the microwave so it’s no longer cold. This helps bring the flavors to life. Just make sure it’s not too hot to eat.
Thank-you for the DIY recipe. Love making new dog treats 🙂
Sounds easy enough, pretty sure my guys would love this.
Question.. how much do you feed them ?
I have an overweight 11 year old Chihuahua that I currently have on a diet. Per the vet she gets only 230 cals per day. Does anyone know the calories in one batch of this?
I’ve made it for my girl in the past and she loved it! If I can add it back in to her rotation while being on the diet she would be so happy!
Responding to Chrissie: One of my pups put on some pounds. He is a rescue and a bulk eater due to previous food deprivation. We added cooked green beans to his food (frozen packs are cheap) which he likes and that really helped him with the weight loss without feeling deprived.
Can I freeze this recipe in portions
Of course you can. I do with no problem. That way you can make a batch every now and then.